Catalyst

Alliance

Osana stole a look at Taeko when she was distracted with scrubbing down a desk. She had loved that cute face for a long time now. She had made up her mind that she would confess by Friday. No more chickening out. It wasn't like Taeko could actually reject Osana. She was cute enough. Right?

"Hey, Osana-chan?" came Taeko's sweet, quiet voice, surprising Osana.

"E-eh?" Osana stuttered, trying her hardest not to blush. "Wh-what do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to my house for dinner tonight."

"O-oh yeah! Sure, I guess. Only because you asked." Osana scolded herself. Moron. That was a stupid answer. There's no way Taeko could say yes if she kept acting like a stuttering idiot. Taeko was so smart...

Taeko smiled. "Great! I'll try not to be late meeting you at the front of the school this time."

"You better not, dummy!"

"Haha! Anyway, this room looks done. Kokona wanted me to help clean the kitchen in the cooking club room. I'll see you later!"

And with that, Taeko headed down the hall. Osana tried not to notice how perfectly her skirt settled on her ass. Once again, she scolded herself. She shouldn't be thinking such dirty thoughts.

*****

"I'm sorry I'm late, Kokona!" Taeko called to her purple-haired friend. "I was held up talking to Osana."

Kokona gave a pained smile. "It's okay." she said. "Honestly, I don't think she's very nice. I don't know how you managed to be friends this long."

"Well, she hasn't been like this very long." Taeko explained. "She used to be very shy and sweet. I know she's still like that. She just doesn't want to be pushed around anymore."

"Whatever you say, Senpai." Kokona sighed.

Taeko blushed. "Anyway, did you say you needed help with the fridge?"

"Oh yeah!" Kokona looked embarrassed. "We spilt a lot of stuff in there yesterday. Musume called me a klutz. Nobody could really do anything when she laughed at me. You know how it is."

Taeko nodded. It was hard for even her to like Musume. "We better get started. We only have forty-five minutes left."

"Oh! You're right!"

*****

Ayano decided to follow Osana after Taeko left, trying to figure out the best way to eliminate her. Osana waited for a bit, then began to follow Senpai. Ayano fought the urge to run up behind her and snap her neck. She had to get control of herself. There were other students watching.

Osana stopped just outside the bright pink cooking club room. Ayano felt a sudden need to be closer to Senpai than Osana. She walked around behind Osana, heading to the other door.

"Who does she think she is?" hissed Osana petulantly.

Ayano froze. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, dummy!" Osana whispered. "And keep your voice down! I can't believe Kokona thinks she could just steal Taeko from me. I mean," she amended, blushing with furious embarrassment. "She's my friend."

Ayano feigned sympathy, seeing an opportunity. "Yeah, I don't like Kokona very much either."

Osana perked up slightly. "Really? What did she do to you?"

"Let's just say she's not that good at keeping secrets." Ayano lied, switching to a scowl for effect. "I'd be pretty happy if I could get back at her."

Ayano saw a fragment of herself reflected in Osana's eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

A new emotion slipped into Ayano's mind. This one was subtler than she was used to, but it wasn't negative. It was as if her rage had been reversed somehow. Just by a fraction. It was oddly relaxing.

"Why don't we talk about this later." Ayano replied cryptically. She wanted to see exactly how far she could push Osana before they tried anything.